PUC REVERSES 760 AREA CODE SPLIT

Reversing an earlier ruling to split the 760 area code in two, the California Public Utilities Commission voted yesterday to instead create a so-called overlay. The move will make a second area code – 442 – available throughout the 760 geographic region.

The 5-0 decision means North County businesses can continue to use existing signs and printed material, such as business cards, stationery and marketing brochures.

It also means that everyone in the sprawling area code will have to dial 10 digits for all calls within the area.

“That's going to take some getting used to,” said Ted Owen, chief executive of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce. But he added, “I think most people are happy to dial the extra three numbers if it means our businesses, schools and government agencies can save millions.”

Owen estimated that his organization's members would save $4.2 million in printing and sign replacement costs.

The new area code will be the third overlay in California, following the 424 area code in Los Angeles and 657 in Orange County. A phase-in period for the new area code is scheduled to begin in May, leading to mandatory use in October 2009.

Officials say the new code is necessary because population growth and the rising use of wireless phones have nearly exhausted the 7.9 million telephone numbers possible in the 760 area code, which was created in 1997. With fewer than 35 combinations of three-digit prefixes remaining, the 760 area code is expected to run out of numbers within a year.

The 442 code was to go into effect next month but was rescheduled to allow telephone companies to plan for the changes and to educate customers.

In April, the PUC had voted to split the region in what appeared to be the final word on the issue. It would have required all North San Diego County phone customers in the 760 area to change their phone numbers to the 442 area code.

After an Internet letter-writing campaign started by Scott Chatfield of Leucadia generated more than 6,000 e-mails and fueled public outcry, the PUC reopened hearings.

The letter-writing campaign led to an August petition seeking reconsideration filed by Assemblyman Martin Garrick, R-Carlsbad, and the chambers of commerce of Carlsbad, Encinitas, Escondido, San Marcos, Oceanside and Vista.

A September public hearing in Carlsbad drew hundreds of residents, business owners and a previously silent ally, the Marine Corps. Col. James Seaton, Camp Pendleton's base commander, said a switch to new phone numbers would be a burden on administrators and an inconvenience to Marines returning home from combat who might find friends and family had changed numbers.

A PUC administrative law judge initially recommended a split in part because of the large size of the 760 area, which extends east to the state line and north to Mammoth Lakes. A split also would have allowed residents to continue to dial seven digits when making calls within the region.

The PUC order adopted yesterday refers to “10-digit dialing.” Whether residents will have to dial a 1 first – making it 11-digit dialing – was not immediately clear, PUC spokesman Andrew Kotch said.